Z--

This is exactly correct. All of the ethical doctors I'd spoken to would either (i) propose doing less than 3k grafts (not one agreed to more, and I'm in a worse situation than you) or (ii) would outright reject me until later. I would be super cautious if you're going to proceed without Fin. Unfortunately, for many of us, that is the reality we have to live with (as I cannot take it either).

I’m surprised everyone is against a transplant here. Zoomsters and Melvin had fairly high Norwood’s (each a 6 bordering on 7) and had stellar results — it’s difficult to even tell they had a transplant. Your husband isn’t far off from their starting point. I think the key is that you have a talented doctor check the donor. I’d check with Hassan/Wong or the Eugenix folks who specialize in higher Norwoods to assess . If your husband can grow a beard, he may have enough grafts for solid coverage. I think there are very few cases of high Norwood’s when a transplant isn’t viable (e.g. DUPA or high loss and no alternate source). Trust ethical doctors and have reasonable expectations!

First thing -- you've gone a looooong way from the starting point (I'm actually near where you were originally ), but hair transplants aren't perfect and I understand the concern with the density just behind the hairline. Honestly, I think if you have the grafts available, you could do something like 250-500 there and the rest in the crown. How many grafts do you have available and are these exclusively beard grafts? If so, I'd possibly consider seeing if you could do any donor hair on your head (if remaining) for the the front and beard to get you some coverage in the back.

Your hair loss isn't that bad. I don't think you need a crazy number of grafts and I'd be wary of any clinic suggesting more than 3k grafts. I think if you're going to Turkey I'd check out Bicer. ASMED used to have some really great results a few years back, but I've been a bit less impressed lately (given their sheer scale you'll naturally find many successes and with that, some failures).

Stunning result - truly a magnificent turnaround! Gives us fellow Norwood 6/7s hope. Curious how much donor you have remaining? If exhausted, do you have any body hair to use? I totally agree with using SMP in this case in the donor region (and just a few more hundred donors in the crown would make this perfect). Both will go a long way to topping off an already wonderful result. Cheers!!

Thanks, Melvin. Understood - I ask because I'd watched your Instagram interview with Konior and his explanation (and the benefits) for why he uses stick-and-place made sense, though it seemed fairly time-consuming. Was just curious.

This is amazing. Thank you so much. Outside of price, how does everyone feel about stick-and-place versus pre-made slights and DHI? It seems that doctors that use the stick-and-place in their respective countries charge higher prices for their counterparts. Curious if that has something to do with it -- and if it leads to stronger results.

Welcome. I've liked the Nadimi results I've seen and I think the approach of doing multiple smaller sessions instead of one large session is actually to your benefit and I think is generally preferable (unless one is slick-bald or doing just a hairline restoration type thing). She's a great doctor and you did good research.

Seconding @JohnAC71 thoughts. Dr. Barghouthi has some great results.

I do think you’re a Norwood 6/7. I don’t think Finn will do much at this point. But I disagree about donor — it’s possible it will look a bit thicker if grown out because it looks fairly low shaved as is. I do think it’s on the thinner side but I disagree that it’s not useable. I’d probably check out Eugenix or a doctor that specializes in bht. With BHT and some hair from the back, you could get a conservative result I think. I wouldn’t expect a totally full head of hair but doing that and smp can make it look okay.

Hi! You and I have similar (if not the exact same) hair loss pattern and we are near a similar age. Understand that without Finasteride, which I cannot take either, we will continue to lose our hair. That said, given your age and pattern (you can see a slight dip in the crown), I think you are probably heading to a Norwood 6. With that, it’s imperative that you preserve grafts and use them wisely. The surgeon I will be using for my own transplant stated that this type of pattern requires precise donor management and typically recommended less grafts to prevent shock loss (which you should absolutely ask about along with how they plan to manage your donor for future hair loss). The truth is if you do a hair transplant now, you will need two or three in the future. Fortunately you have beard grafts as well, which can be used. Please have them check your donor region to get a sense of how many grafts you have available. If you want a one and done transplant, I suggest you wait until you lose more hair (and even then I think you’ll need a minimum of two transplants). In my case, which I think you ought to consider given our similarities, the doctor has suggested an initial surgery of 2,000ish grafts next year just for the frontal third (and not to lower the hairline!). You should focus this area first as it frames the face. I anticipate that for my second transplant, likely using a mix of beard hairs, to cover a portion of the crown. From my own rough estimates, I’ll need to budget my donor to have enough donor left to cover any future loss that comes later (possibly 2k grafts to be safe is my guess) and to strengthen those areas. In other words, you and I are probably in this for the long haul. Do keep me updated and best of luck on your journey!

Amazing result!

Higher Norwood checking in here. So if you begin with FUE, it sounds like as long as it isn’t over the 3k limit, it shouldn’t pose a problem to do a larger FUT later? One question as well. Is FUE or FUT better suited for different parts of the head (i.e. is one surgery or another better suited for the hairline vs the crown)?

The results I’ve been most impressed with are Konior, H&W, and Couto. If money is no object (and the longer wait times work out), I’d select the one whose style matches what you are looking for. Keep in mind that from speaking/contacting reps (or Konior himself in that case) with all three, the impression I get is that Couto is excellent with Mediterranean hair but will take the longest (as even a consultation takes months to years and surgery the year after), H&W do amazing crown work and have shorter wait time and I think slightly cheaper per graft (but require fin for higher Norwoods, which I simply can’t do, unfortunately). Konior is more expensive per graft, but he has a great sense of donor management and churns out brilliant results with less grafts. For more affordable options, Freitas, the folks at Eugenix, and Shapiro have some homeruns.

We have a similar hair loss pattern and I’ve booked a surgery with Dr. Konior for next year, so I’m excited to see your progress! Initial pictures look great; I’m sure it will be a stellar result.